Olympia event scrapped after archaeologists intervene

ATHENS, Apr 22 (Reuters) An international athletics meeting at the birthplace of the Olympic Games in the ancient stadium of Olympia has been scrapped after scientists vetoed the plan for fear it could damage the historic site.

The event scheduled for mid-May and conceived by the Greek Olympic Committee (HOC), had been backed by the International Olympic Committee and the International Association of Athletics Federations as a means to promote athletics worldwide.

''The meeting is cancelled. It cannot go ahead if we have to use some other stadium for the events,'' an HOC official told Reuters.

Greece's Central Archaeological Council (CAS) rejected organisers' plans for the event on Wednesday and refused to allow the use of the ancient stadium because of the added weight of equipment and the large number of spectators.

The event called for the installation of a modern 120-tonne running track over the original one in the stadium, equipment for television coverage and around 15,000 spectators.

CAS said it would only allow a brief medals ceremony to take place there in front of 3,000 spectators.

The sports events themselves must be staged somewhere else and closing the archaeological site for 25 days to set up, stage and dismantle the event, was far too long given the start of the busy tourist season, it added.

FIVE EVENTS About 170 athletes were due to compete in five men's and women's events -- 100 metres, long jump, triple jump, pole vault and shot, in front of spectators sitting on the grassy slopes of the track where the Games were founded in 776 BC, in the western Peloponnese.

''The whole point was to have the ancient stadium and that would also be why the world's best athletes would want to take part in this meeting,'' the HOC official added.

''We will continue working towards this goal, for next year.'' Greece had even presented the plans at a meeting of more than 200 national Olympic committees and the IOC in Seoul earlier this month.

A hugely popular year-round tourist attraction and site of the start of Olympic Games torch relays, Olympia has been used for competition only once before in modern times, staging the men's and women's shot put events at the Athens 2004 Olympics.

That was also the first time that women had competed in the stadium.

REUTERS PM BD1351